


Ghosts

by Starofwinter



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-18
Updated: 2016-06-18
Packaged: 2018-07-15 17:43:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7232377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starofwinter/pseuds/Starofwinter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ghost stories on Kamino were far too close to the truth to be only stories, but not all ghosts are scary</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ghosts

It was a rite of passage for cadets - not one given by their instructors or their commanders, but one given by each other.  The older ones took pleasure in terrifying their younger brothers with each new batch, inducting them into the ranks by way of telling the stories they all knew to be true.  Not everyone  _ believed _ , but they all  _ knew. _  The instructors let it be - there was little better for incentive than the horror stories about what could happen if you didn’t keep up.

They all started off the same, really.  An older brother’s batch-mate, who’d been too slow, who couldn’t see the target at the end of the range, who fought more than he should have, who said more than he should have; the list went on, reasons for a cadet barely decanted to be taken away.  A  _ defect _ , and the title was murmured in horrified tones.   _ They _ came in the middle of the night, the  _ keepers _ , and they took away the defects to… somewhere.  

No one knew what they did to them, but there was one corridor even the bravest ARCs never went near.  It was always colder than the rest of the compound, they knew that much.  A bone-deep cold, so icy that they could see their breath sometimes.  Worse than the cold, though, was the crawling sensation of being watched by countless eyes.  A breath on the back of their necks.  1818 said he’d been pushed to the ground one time, but he lied a lot, so no one was really sure.  They’d all heard the screams and the sounds of marching feet, though, and it was enough to send chills down their spines.

Rose had been just old enough to stay with her brothers in the barracks when she heard the stories, and they’d left an impression on her young mind.  She knew where she shouldn’t be - the exact spot Fox had left her in.  He knew what he was doing, leaving her there.  But she wouldn’t move, she knew better.  She was more afraid of what he would do to her than the ghosts.  So she curled up with her hands over her head, trying to muffle the cries from down the hall.  They were just ghosts, they weren’t real.  She repeated it over and over to herself, trying not to start crying.  Clones didn’t cry.  

A hand on her shoulder made her jump out of her skin, and she looked up with wide gold eyes, expecting Fox.  Instead, there was a younger trooper crouched next to her, his armor painted white and blue.  He smiled at her - a nice smile, not like Fox’s.  “Hey, kid, what are you doing out here?  Lights out was three hours ago.” 

She shook her head.  “The Commander told me I had to stay here till he came to get me.  It’s- it’s okay, I’m not scared.”  She lifted her chin as she spoke, her voice firm.  She  _ wasn’t _ scared.  

“I know you’re not.  You mind if I sit with you though?”  He smiled when she shrugged, sitting down next to her.  “What’s your name?”

“CT-1087.  What’s your designation?”  She looked up at him, frowning a little.  He looked familiar, but he was a clone, he looked the same as everybody else.  

He smiled down at her, bumping his shoulder against hers.  “It’s CT-1409.  But my name is Echo.”  

“You’re  _ ARC Trooper Echo _ !”  Her eyes went wide and awed as she looked up at him, all her attention on Echo now, and well off her own fears.  She straightened up a little, trying to look less like a scared cadet and more like a trooper.  “But I thought you died.”

He ruffled her short hair.  “I am an ARC,” he said with a smile, “But I can’t be dead, I’m here, aren’t I?”

She shook her head.  “You’re an ARC.  You’re the best of the best,” she said, clearly repeating something she’d heard a hundred times, “I want to be just like you when I grow up.  What’s it like?  How did you get to be an ARC?”  Her questions were endless, but he smiled as he answered them, keeping a hand on her back as she listened intently to everything he had to say.  She tried to stay awake as long as she could, but she slowly dozed off with her head on his knee, too exhausted to keep her eyes open any longer.  Echo shook his head fondly, laying her back on the floor before he pushed himself to his feet to stand guard for the rest of the night.  

By the time she woke up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, he was walking down the hallway.   Echo turned and gave her a little wave before he vanished into thin air, leaving her alone.  


End file.
